The present invention relates to a singulation slide for an apparatus for feeding a connecting element to an apparatus for feeding a connecting element and to a related method.
A singulation device for feeding connecting elements is known, for example, from document WO 2006/084847 A1.
In the field of joining technology there are a multiplicity of automated joining apparatuses for accelerating production and assembly processes and making them more cost-effective. In these joining apparatuses, components or connecting elements must likewise be fed in an automated manner so that the complete apparatus can work independently. A specific application in this case is automatic riveters, which are used in all fields of technology for connecting workpieces.
The invention presented below relates in particular to the field of riveting technology and to the feeding and processing of rivets. However, this is not to be understood as a limitation of the field of application of the present invention. The present invention can also be used for other connecting elements of the same kind.
To feed rivets to a rivet processing tool, publication WO 2006/084847 A1 proposes a feed passage through which a plurality of rivets are delivered by means of compressed air. A plurality of rivets then come to bear against one another at an end of the feed passage, such that a “rivet column” is formed. From this rivet column formed from the plurality of rivets, the rivets are to be singulated (separated) so that they can then be processed individually.
To this end, it is WO 2006/084847 discloses that two elastic rails, on which the first rivet of the rivet column rests with its rivet head, be provided at the end of the feed passage. From this initial position, the rivet is then displaced into an intermediate position by means of a, for example hydraulically or pneumatically operated, slide. The rivet is then secured in this intermediate position firstly by the two rails and secondly by a spring-loaded pawl element, such that it can no longer leave the intermediate position. From this intermediate position, in which the rivet is arranged below a rivet punch, the rivet is then pushed by the rivet punch into a processing position in which the rivet is fixed by a securing sleeve.
During such a singulation operation, however, it is possible for a rivet to become jammed. The reason for this lies in the fact that a rivet, in the initial position, is merely held in its position laterally by the two rails. If the rivet is now moved by the slide, the rivet can rotate or tilt slightly. If this is the case, a rivet following in the rivet column can at least partly slip down and jam or block the slide.
Furthermore, this singulation mechanism has a multiplicity of small parts, for instance the rails, the pawl and the corresponding springs, which necessitates a complicated assembly and increases the maintenance requirements.
To improve such a feed apparatus, publication DE 299 02 398 U1 therefore proposes an apparatus for the singulation of rivets, said apparatus providing a special loading element which transports the rivet from the initial position into the intermediate position. The loading element has a receptacle between at least two parts of the loading element, wherein the parts can give way radially relative to the rivet punch. The two parts enclose the rivet in the initial position in a pincer-like manner, such that it is securely held all round. These two parts are then moved by a slide along a guide into the intermediate position, the guide in turn being designed to be radially elastic in the region of the intermediate position so that the two parts can open in the intermediate position. In this case, the rivet bears between the two parts against a conical bevel and can therefore be pressed into the processing position while the two parts and the elastic guide expand.
Although such a singulation apparatus provides improved securing of the rivet in the initial position, it still has a large number of individual parts, for instance the two parts of the loading element, guide elements, springs for providing elasticity of the guide elements, and connecting elements such as bolts or screws in order to provide the mobility of the parts and of the guide elements.